Bergmann was one of the reasonably successful yet relatively unknown manufacturers of early automatic pistols. Originally a delayed blowback patent purchased by Bergmann, the design was refined and simplified by none other than Louis Schmeisser into the 1896 Bergmann, in three different calibers (5mm No.2, 6.5mm No.3, and 8mm No.4). Its evolution would continue into a locked-breech design using the more powerful 9x23mm cartridge and the later variations would see use as late as WWII.